Page 4 of Here & Now

Two

Zane turned the sign on the door of Sanibel Outfitters to Closed.

“Hurry up, man. The women are waiting for us,” said Marco, his best friend and co-owner of Sanibel Outfitters, as he leaned against Zane’s Jeep.

Moments later, they were on their way to Turtle Cove Resort. As Zane turned left on Periwinkle Way, Marco asked, “What’s up with you tonight?”

“Nothing. Why?”

“You don’t seem very excited about going out.”

“I’m just a little tired, that’s all.”

“Well, get untired. The night is young!”

Zane nodded but didn’t look at his friend. The truth was, he was getting tired of this, but he didn’t expect Marco to understand. They were two single guys living on a tropical island teeming with tourists—female tourists. Ever since they were teenagers, they’d been doing this: going out on the weekends, meeting women, sometimes going home with them…

“These ladies are hot, and they’re only here for the weekend. It’s perfect,” Marco said.

Yesterday the two women had come into their shop to rent bikes.

“You came to the right place,” Marco said smoothly.

The blonde woman laughed. “I hope so, since your sign says bike rentals!”

Her brunette friend smiled, but she was looking at Zane, not Marco.

They’d played this game before, and Marco stepped up as the ringleader. “How many bikes will you be needing?”

“Just two,” the blonde answered, motioning to herself and her friend.

Zane noticed they weren’t wearing wedding rings.

“We want those cute, retro-looking bikes if you have any,” the brunette said.

Of course you do, Zane thought. Her appearance, though attractive, also screamed high maintenance.

“We happen to have two in mint green. How’s that?” Marco said, smiling.

“That’s perfect!”

“I’ll bring them around while my buddy Zane writes up the receipt.”

Zane almost laughed at how obvious Marco was being. Whenever he waited on attractive and seemingly eligible women, he dropped their names to make the transaction more personal.

“Zane, I like your name,” the brunette said.

“Thanks, but the credit belongs to my parents,” he said drily.

The women laughed like it was the funniest thing they’d heard all day.

He pulled a receipt pad out from under the counter. “I just need to get a little information from you. Whose name should I put this under?”

“I’m Callie, and this is Gina.”

He only needed one name, but he wrote them both down. “Are you residents or visitors?”

“Visitors. We’re only here for the weekend.”